1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for providing pre and post operative information and support to patients undergoing medical procedures to enhance overall procedure outcomes and patient convenience and satisfaction, to reduce medical practitioner and staff time spent on routine but often unperformed communicative aspects of medical procedures, and for increasing revenues for medical practitioners by developing useful patient profiles, by facilitating procedure financing and payment, scheduling, and by providing an integrated system for sales of pre and post operative products and services.
2. Description of Related Art
According to statistics from the American Association of Cosmetic Surgery, approximately 3.3 million cosmetic or aesthetic procedures were performed in 1996, a 22% increase from 2.7 million procedures in 1994. Since 1992, cosmetic procedures have increased by 153%. It is also estimated that over $4 billion in physician fees were generated from such procedures in 1996. The number of cosmetic procedures increased approximately 50% between 1996 and 1998 alone. Certified plastic surgeons performed over 2.2 million plastic surgery procedures in 1998, a 44% increase in total number of procedures since 1992. This does not include procedures performed by medical practitioners in other specialties, such as dermatologists, ear-nose-throat specialists, oculoplastic specialists and others. Reconstructive procedures by plastic surgeons totaled an additional 1,169,400 procedures in 1998. The number of products that claim to slow down the aging process or function as anti-aging treatments has tripled in the past five years. In 1998, at least 69 anti-aging products were introduced into the market, compared to 18 in 1993.
The number of such medical procedures is expected to continue to increase as the U.S. population as a whole continues to age, social attitudes continue to indicate wider acceptance of medical procedures for self-improvement rather than merely for critical care, and as such procedures are improved and further developed with improved medical technology.
Presently, patients considering undergoing medical procedures often react with confusion and discouragement when they contact a medical practitioner that specializes in the type of procedure under consideration. Patients considering undergoing such procedures commonly suffer from low self-esteem and self-confidence, which drives their desire to improve themselves through the procedure under consideration. Such patients have a heightened need for information about what the procedure under consideration will and will not do for them, about what can be expected through the process, and about what is and is not “normal.” More important, medical practitioners need to assess their patient prospects' past clinical history, their personal habits affecting their health such as substance abuse problems and psychological/psychiatric status, and their attitudes regarding healthcare providers and undergoing medical procedures. Without a thorough assessment of these various items of patient information, a medical practitioner cannot competently assess whether the contemplated medical procedure is necessary or appropriate, or whether undergoing the contemplated procedure will achieve the results desired by the patient. Identification of possible psychiatric disorders is particularly critical in the pre-operative assessment of patients contemplating elective medical procedures. Furthermore, pre-operative stress and anxiety is to be expected, post-operative depression is not unusual, and these patient mental factors can lead to actions by patients that affect the outcome of the medical procedure undergone as well as the patient's own opinion about their overall experience, which opinion can be expressed as negative recommendations to other patients and as a decision not to consider undergoing additional procedures in the future. At the same time this needed information must be obtained tactfully so as to avoid offending patient prospects who may believe that they are being treated as though they are mentally ill.
Patient prospects also frequently find that the procedure they are considering costs significantly more than what was anticipated. Often, they forego the procedure because they do not have the money to pay for it or have second thoughts after contacting a medical practitioner who does not seem to be receptive or attuned to their needs.
Medical practitioners often have very busy and lucrative practices that reduce their sensitivity to individual patient needs, particularly with regard to patients who cannot afford the contemplated procedure. Medical practitioners are typically clinicians and allied healthcare professionals with their strengths lying to a greater extent in their particular medical expertise (which typically does not include formal training in psychiatry) rather than their communicative skills. Their ability to charge substantial fees for the procedures they perform and maintain lucrative practices leads them to believe that they have no flaws. They are also not lenders and do not typically provide financing for the procedures they perform. Furthermore, they often have poor patient profiling and tracking systems to identify the needs of patients and market future procedures, products and ancillary services designed to meet such needs.
This combination of patient and medical practitioner characteristics results in a communication and support gap that appears to affect procedure closure rates for medical practitioners as well as overall procedure outcomes and patient satisfaction. It is estimated that the “closure” rate with regard to new patient prospects is approximately 10–20%, and only about 28% of patients become repeat patients. A recent study indicates that patient satisfaction is derived primarily from the perception that the medical practitioner engages the patient in a personal and attentive manner. When a patient is well informed of what to expect in the medical procedure being undergone and is positively reinforced about his or her decision to undertake the medical procedure, the patient is more likely to comply with pre and post operative treatment regimens. This greater compliance and positive attitude contributes to a better overall result. These needs have to date been unmet by prior art systems and methods.
Prior art methods and systems have focused on computerizing healthcare communications between medical practitioners, payors, hospitals and managed care organizations, and providing patient diagnostic templates and algorithms so that diagnoses and suggested treatments can be automated based on patient symptoms. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,105 teaches an integrated and comprehensive healthcare system that interconnects the patient, healthcare provider, bank or other financial institution, insurance company, utilization reviewer and the patient's employer. Such system merely streamlines and automates the processing of provider reimbursement and procedure authorizations from insurers, employers and other payors and the patient's lender when the patient finances a medical procedure, and assists with medical claims processing, combined with template diagnostic and treatment protocols. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,778 teaches a computerized medical transaction system that automates healthcare provider reimbursement from payors and improves the healthcare provider's compliance with reimbursement requirements.
Other prior art systems focusing on the computerization of healthcare information interchange between healthcare providers and payors, and systems providing diagnostic templates for frequently encountered conditions include U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,383 which teaches a medical information system with automatic updating of task lists in response to entering orders and charting interventions on associated forms. This system basically computerizes and automates the typical hospital operational and patient record-keeping functions that are otherwise accomplished through the use of handwritten forms. The objects of these inventions are increasing productivity and workflow primarily in non-elective procedures.
These systems do not address the need to educate and inform prospective patients, particularly those considering elective and aesthetic procedures, of what the procedure under consideration entails from start to finish and to provide continuing positive reinforcement and support to patients throughout the process and into the future. While an automated processing system may be helpful in healthcare administrative tasks, patients still need a human response to their questions and concerns. These needs, if they are to be met at all, still require medical practitioner and staff time that is better spent on direct patient care. There is a long-felt and unmet need for patients to receive information regarding the contemplated procedure to enable the patient to make an informed decision on whether or not to undergo such procedure, preferably in a manner that builds the patient's or patient prospects' confidence and trust in the medical practitioner.
Patient prospects considering undergoing elective and/or aesthetic medical procedures do not presently have easy and convenient access to such information and would likely find such information useful in deciding whether or not to undergo a particular procedure, and in choosing a particular medical practitioner. At the same time, such patient prospects often do not want to disclose to others that they are considering undergoing an elective or aesthetic medical procedure, and do not want to be solicited by providers of such products and services. There is therefore a need to provide a centralized and searchable source of information about elective and/or aesthetic medical procedures, those who have undergone them, and the medical practitioners who perform them, while preserving the anonymity of persons seeking such information until such time as such persons decide to disclose their identities and make contact with medical practitioners. At the same time, medical practitioners need to attract patients in a manner that patients feel well informed and in control of their decisions.
The present method serves these needs initially by utilizing a permission-marketing approach. Patient prospects are not requested to provide information about themselves and information is provided with no obligation. The patient prospect dictates what information he or she will initially receive and when and to what extent additional information is needed. When the patient prospect feels comfortable with providing identifying information and establishing contact with a live person, he or she can do so voluntarily—the patient prospect is not pressured. Once contact with a live person is established, the system provides information, support and reinforcement to the patient prospect before, during and after the medical procedure under consideration.
Additionally, medical practitioners who perform elective and/or aesthetic procedures need to better assess patient physical, psychological/psychiatric and financial characteristics at the outset to properly identify patient needs and the appropriateness of procedures under consideration. They also need means for improving patient prospect closure rates and maximizing cross-selling of additional procedures, a need that is typically not present with regard to non-elective procedures, and desire to increase their revenues through sales of pre and post operative products and services, referrals and additional procedures for existing patients. The system of the present invention also addresses these needs.